speken

Middle English

Etymology

From Old English specan, from earlier sprecan, from Proto-West Germanic *sprekan, from Proto-Germanic *sprekaną.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈspɛːkən/

Verb

speken (third-person singular simple present speketh, present participle spekynge, first-/third-person singular past indicative spak, past participle speken)

1. to speak (communicate using the voice)
   • a. 1382, John Wycliffe, “Psalms 108:1-3”, in Wycliffe's Bible:

     The title of the hundrid and eiȝtthe ſalm. To victorye, the ſalm of Dauid. / God, holde thou not ſtille my preiſyng; for the mouth of the ſynner, and the mouth of the gileful man is openyd on me. / Thei ſpaken ayens me with a gileful tunge, and thei cumpassiden me with wordis of hatrede; and fouȝten ayens me with out cauſe.

     The title of the one hundred and eighth psalm: "To Victory; the Psalm of David" / God; don't hold still my praising, as the mouths of the sinners and the mouths of the guilty have opened against me. / They spoke against me with a guilty tongue, they acted against me with words of hatred, and they fought against me without justification.

   • 14^th Century, Chaucer, General Prologue

     And whan that he wel dronken hadde the wyn,
     Than wolde he speke no word but Latyn.

     And when he had drunk all the wine
     He would not speak a word other than Latin

Conjugation

Conjugation of speken (strong class 5/4)

infinitive	(to) speken, speke
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	speke	spak, spek
2nd-person singular	spekest, spext	speke, spake, spoke, spak, spek
3rd-person singular	speketh, spekth	spak, spek
subjunctive singular	speke	speke1, spake1, spoke1
imperative singular		—
plural2	speken, speke	speken, speke, spaken, spake, spoken, spoke
imperative plural	speketh, speke	—
participles	spekynge, spekende	(y)speken, (y)speke, (y)spoken, (y)spoke

¹ Replaced by the indicative in later Middle English.
² Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.

Derived terms

• mysspeken

Descendants

• English: speak
• Scots: speke, speik

References

• “spēken, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.